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Supporting Parent Engagement in Ontario

School Boards and Schools
All boards in Ontario are required to have a Parent Involvement
Committee by February 2011.This fact sheet answers commonly
asked questions about Parent Involvement Committees in Ontario.

Parent Involvement Committees: parent or guardian of a pupil enrolled in a school of the board
s ENHANCEPARENTINVOLVEMENTTOSUPPORTSTUDENT that established the PIC.
ACHIEVEMENTANDWELL BEINGATTHEREGIONALLEVEL
s PROVIDEADIRECTLINKBETWEENPARENTSANDTHE May I attend meetings?
DIRECTOROFEDUCATIONANDTRUSTEES PICs meet at least four times a year. Meetings are open to the
public, and are held in a location accessible to the public. Those
who wish to observe, and learn first-hand about the operation
What is a Parent Involvement Committee? of the PIC are welcome to attend meetings. Notices of when
A Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) is an important and where meetings are to be held, as well as minutes of past
advisory body to school boards. A PIC is a formal structure and meetings are posted on the board’s website.
a key vehicle at the board level that enhances parent involvement
and supports student achievement and well-being. How do PICs differ from school councils?
School councils are school-based structures. PICs focus on things
What do Parent Involvement Committees do? that affect more than one school and link parents with the school
The purpose of Parent Involvement Committees is to support, board’s director of education and trustees. The PIC provides
© Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2010 ISBN 978-1-4435-5127-4 (Print) 978-1-4435-5128-1 (HTML) 978-1-4435-5129-8 (PDF)

encourage and enhance meaningful parent involvement at the advice to the board on parent engagement, communicates with
board level to improve student achievement and well-being. The and supports school councils, and undertakes activities to help
Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) acts as an advisory body to parents in the board support their children’s learning at home
the local school board, and provides an important link between and at school.
parents and the board’s director of education and trustees. Parent
PICs actively support school councils by enhancing their role
Involvement Committees build parent engagement by:
in fostering parent engagement, building capacity and sharing
s PROVIDINGINFORMATIONANDADVICETOTHEDISTRICTSCHOOLBOARD
information.
on parent engagement and communicating with parents
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Is the work of PICs guided by education policy?
engage more parents to support their children’s learning at
Yes. Like all education partners, PICs play an important role in
home and at school
fulfilling the vision and goals of Ontario’s parent engagement
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school councils.
Each PIC decides how best to achieve these goals depending on
the unique needs of its board and community, its organization,
and the members of the committee. Funding of $5,000 plus
$0.17 per student is provided to each school board to support its
collaborative work with its Parent Involvement Committee. This
allocation is intended to fund activities undertaken by the PIC to
support parent engagement at home, at school and through the
PIC’s work with school councils.
Who can sit on a Parent Involvement Committee?
The PIC is a parent-led committee. The chair and co-chair(s) are
parents and the majority of members are parents. The director
and a trustee are also members of the PIC to provide a direct
link to the board. The PIC may appoint up to three community
members. PICs decide whether to include other members, such
as principals, teachers and support staff to suit local needs. Parent
members serve for a term of one or two years and must be the
policy to support student achievement. Parents in Partnership:
A Parent Engagement Policy for Ontario Schools, can be found
on the ministry website. PICs are also guided by Ontario
Regulation 612/00, as amended.
How do PICs help the education system?
The positive results of a genuine partnership between parents
and schools include improved student achievement, reduced
absenteeism, better behaviour and increased confidence among
parents in their children’s schooling. The Ministry of Education,
district school boards and schools benefit not only from the
important work parents do to support their children’s learning,
but also by seeking and considering parent perspectives at the
provincial, regional and local levels.
Where can I learn more?
Visit the ministry website to learn more about Parent Involvement
Committees and parent engagement in Ontario schools and
school boards.